Torian Oakley (21) of West Texas A&M celebrates from the sideline as his teammate Jordan Smith intercepts a pass intended for Trent Rios (22) of Incarnate Word during college football action on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012.

Photo By Billy Calzada/Express-News

Incarnate Word's Trent Rios (22) carries the ball on a 54-yard reception during college football action against West Texas A&M at Benson Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012.

Tyrell Higgins was looking forward to West Texas A&M's trip to Incarnate Word.

It meant being on a bus for eight hours, but it offered the defensive lineman from Clemens an opportunity to play in front of family and friends for the first time in his college career.

The trip turned out to be worth every mile. Higgins gave his following plenty to cheer as his defensive contributions helped the 25th-ranked Buffaloes to a 24-0 Lone Star Conference victory over the Cardinals on Saturday night at Benson Stadium.

Higgins, who transferred to West Texas A&M (3-1, 2-0) two years ago after originally signing with Texas, recorded three tackles and was in on 21/2 of the Buffaloes' eight sacks as the Buffaloes held Incarnate Word (1-3, 0-2) to 146 yards of offense.

“I've been waiting for this because I play so far away and don't have many fans there,” Higgins said. “I had a good turnout (30 fans) and wanted to play well for them. It was a good game for all of us. We wanted to come out and really play physical to keep that momentum. Getting a shutout is awesome. This gives us the confidence to carry to our next game.”

“We got beat by a considerably better team,” UIW coach Larry Kennan said. “We tried hard on offense and defense. But they were better than us in all areas. We just need to hang together and get better, because the season is long from being over.”

Trent Rios, who became UIW's first career 2,000-yard rusher a week ago, was held to 66 yards on 14 carries. In addition, freshman quarterback Taylor Woods, making his first start in place of an injured Zach Rhodes, passed for 123 yards.

“It seemed like when we got close to the red zone, everything fell apart,” Rios said. “We didn't capitalize on those opportunities.”